Santorum fever! Multiple polls show Pennsylvanian tied with Romney

Rick Santorum tries on a cowboy hat at a Plano rally last Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)

Seen the latest polls? Rick Santorum has pulled into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney according to a nonpartisan Pew Research Poll out Monday. It’s not just Pew stinking up Mitt’s world. Santorum is up 1.3 percentage points over Romney according to the Real Clear Politics average of major polls.

Whaaaa? Hoooowww? How did a guy who has raised a fraction — and we mean fraction — of what Romney has raised ever gotten to this point?

It’s because Santorum is getting twice the amount of support from Tea Party supporters (42 percent to 23 percent for Romney) and white evangelicals (41 percent to 23 percent), according to the Pewies. And what about Newt Gingrich, who bills himself as the “conservative alternative”? Try 17 percent. Ouch.
You know what comes next: The Romney Super PAC — which has PLENTY of cash on hand compared to the Santorum Super PAC — begins raining down negative ads on Santorum. Or “Unleash heck!” as Mitt might say. That would be a change in course, as it Mitt’s peeps have been aiming most of their barbs at Gingrich in recent weeks.

President Obama would beat Santorum, Romney or Gingrich by upwards of eight percentage points, according to Pew. But hey, it’s still February….or “Seven Months Until Most of the Country Begins Paying Attention,” according to the Political Clock.